Award Data

THE USE OF ADVANCED MATERIALS SUCH AS CERAMICS, CERAMIC COMPOSITES, AND HIGH TEMPERATURE COATINGS HAS LED TO IMPROVED PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL HEAT ENGINE AND ENERGY-RELATED COMPONENTS AND SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, THE REQUIREMENTS FOR NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) OF CERAMIC MATERIALS RESULTING FROM COMPLEX GEOMETRY, INHOMOGENEITY, REDUCED FLAW SIZE, AND ADVERSE PROCESSING ENVIRONMENTS HAVE PRODUCED LON ...

A STEAMFLOODING/STEAM GENERATION SYSTEM IS PROPOSED FOR DEEP, HEAVY OIL RESERVOIRS. THIS CONCEPT MINIMIZES THE DOWNHOLE HEAT LOSSES, IMPROVES RELIABILITY AND REDUCES THE COST OF STEAM GENERATION. ITS FEATURES WILL MAKE STEAMING OF VERY DEEP WELLS (BELOW 7500 FEET) TECHNICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE, AND WILL IMPROVE THE ECONOMICS OF SHALLOWER WELL STEAMFLOODING. THIS NOVEL CONCEPT SUPPLIES HEAT ...

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A FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED OF A SEISMIC SCRAM-PROCESSING SYSTEM IN WHICH P WAVES FROM LARGE EARTHQUAKES ARE DETECTED AND ANALYZED IN TIME TO INITIATE A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CORE SHUTDOWN BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF LARGE, DAMAGING SHEAR WAVE PHASES. A PROTOTYPE SEISMIC SCRAM-MONITORING SYSTEM WILL BE DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED ON A SUN 3/160 ENGINEERING WORKSTATION. IN THE PROPOSED SYSTEM, SEISM ...

A FREE FALL WATER SAMPLER BASED ON THE CHOPSTICK WATER SAMPLER BAG WILL BE DEVELOPED. THIS PORCUPINE SAMPLER WILL BE CAPABLE OF TAKING UP TO 36 THREE LITER WATER SAMPLES AT DEPTHS CONTROLLED FROM THE SURFACE, OR AT DEPTHS DETERMINED BY AN INTERNAL CONTROLLER. THE SAMPLE WILL BE OPTIMIZED FORMINIMUM TRAVEL TIME FROM THE SURFACE TO THE BOTTOM AND BACK SO THAT THE CURRENT FOUR HOUR ON STATION TIME FO ...

THIS PROJECT IS TO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT A MICROCOMPUTER-BASED INSTRUMENT FOR QUANTITATING SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF NUCLEIC ACIDS (DNA AND RNA) SEPARATED ACCORDING TO SIZE BY GEL ELECTROPHORESIS. THE STARTING POINT FOR ANALYSIS OF FLUORESCENCE-STAINED DNA IN GELS WILL BE THE IMAGE DIGITIZATION OF THE ENTIRE GEL ELECTROPHORETIC PATTERN (OR SPECIFIED PORTIONS OF IT) SO THAT THE RELATIVE INTENSITIES OF F ...

RECENT WIND TUNNEL STUDIES ON SOLAR CONCENTRATOR STRUCTURES INDICATE THAT STRUCTURES WITH LOW DAMPING PROPERTIES ARE POTENTIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE SPECTRAL NATURE OF ATMOSPHERIC WIND LOADING. SOLAR CONCENTRATORS ARE SENSITIVE TO DEFLECTIONS IN OPTICAL MOUNTING AND TRACKING SYSTEMS; CONSEQUENTLY, STRUCTURES AND DRIVES WITH SUFFICIENT RIGIDITY TO RESIST DYNAMICALLY INDUCED LOADING WITH MINIMAL DEFL ...

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MODERN BREEDING, GENETIC ENGINEERING, AND BIO-TECHNOLOGIES, OFFER REMARKABLE POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE OF STRESS TOLERANT CROP PLANTS. THESE METHODS, HOWEVER HAVE OFTEN PRODUCED PLANTS REQUIRING GREATER INPUTS OF WATER, NUTRIENTS, PEST CONTROL, ENERGY, AND MANAGEMENT COSTS. TO AVOID SUCH FALSE "IMPROVEMENTS" WILL REQUIRE TECHNIQUES TO EVALUATE BASIC PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS RSPONSE MECHANISMS ...

ROBOTIC MACHINES THAT DUPLICATE THE MANIPULATIVE SKILLS OF AHUMAN OPERATOR ARE CRITICALLY NEEDED IN COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS TO REDUCE OPERATOR EXPOSURE IN HIGH-RADIATION AREAS. ROBOTIC SYSTEMS WITH FORCE REFLECTION (FORCE INFORMATION REFLECTED THROUGH A CONTROL JOYSTICK) AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL VISUAL FEEDBACK CAN IMPROVE TASK PERFORMANCE AND REDUCE FATIGUE. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL USE A ...